Minnesota defensive tackle Kevin Williams is slowed by Browns offensive lineman John Greco during their game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on Sunday, September 22, 2013. Williams set a Vikings franchise record in Sundayâ€™s 31-27 loss to Cleveland, playing in his 158th game at defensive tackle. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Saturday’s 23-7 homecoming loss to unranked Iowa was devastating for the University of Minnesota football team (4-1). But beginning this Saturday at Michigan, the Gophers’ next three opponents are nationally ranked.

The Wolverines (4-0) are No. 17; Northwestern (4-0), which will host the Gophers, is No. 15; and Nebraska (3-1), which will play at TCF Bank Stadium, is No. 25.

Kill said this week that the Gophers need a “defining moment” to continue the building process at Minnesota. That would be a victory against any of the next three opponents.

“Any big win is going to be a defining moment that you’re an underdog in,” Kill said. “That’s where our program is.”

The Gophers are 19 1/2-point underdogs to Michigan.

“You can’t worry about what it says on the side of the helmet all the time from a mentality standpoint,” Kill said. “Sometimes you go, ‘You’re going to play Michigan and they’ve been good and they’ve done this for the last 10 years,’ and then all of a sudden you’re beat before you get started.

“You’ve got to learn as a player to control what you can control, and that’s play well, (be) fundamentally sound. And then good things happen to you. Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve pulled out a game that we weren’t supposed to pull out, and that’s kind of flipped the program.

“I can’t tell you it’s this week or next week, but sooner or later, those things happen.”

Gophers quarterback Philip Nelson views the coming games as an opportunity.

“We have an awesome opportunity ahead of us,” he said. “We’ve got a great chance to turn this thing around and do something special.”

Nelson, a sophomore, hasn’t played at Michigan Stadium, which seats 110,000.

“It’s going to be loud, but we can’t be making any excuses about playing in front of a loud, large crowd,” he said.

Former Minnesota-Duluth hockey player Norm Maciver, who is assistant GM of the Chicago Blackhawks, is bringing the Stanley Cup to Duluth on Friday.

Justin Morneau was traded to Pittsburgh during his 11th straight season with the Twins. Pierre-Marc Bouchard left as a free agent after 11 consecutive seasons with the Wild. That leaves Vikings end Kevin Williams, who is in his 11th straight year with the team, as the longest-tenured Minnesota pro athlete from among the major leagues.

No Timberwolves jerseys were among the top 15 sold worldwide last season, although Ricky Rubio‘s jersey ranked No. 8 in China, according to the NBA. Most-popular-selling jersey worldwide was that of the Miami Heat’s LeBron James.

In town for the Wild-Kings opener Thursday evening was Jack Ferreira, the former North Stars general manager who is an assistant to the GM of the Kings.

“I love coming back here; it was one of the best places I ever lived,” Ferreira said.

Former Wild defenseman Willie Mitchell, 36, is with the Kings.

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin has been projected as the NHL Central Division’s breakout player of the year by Sports Illustrated.

Augsburg College is off to a combined 31-4-4 record in football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball this fall.

DON’T PRINT THAT

Mark Hamburger, the former major league pitcher for the Texas Rangers who signed with the Twins after excelling for the St. Paul Saints this year, leaves Friday for the Maracay team in Venezuela.

Hamburger, 26, a Mounds View High grad, plans to pitch for El Tigres through Christmas, then maybe return after the holidays before reporting to spring training with the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla. He’ll have a 50-game suspension for substance abuse once his minor league season begins.

Hamburger initially was signed out of a Twins tryout camp by scout Mark Wilson, who also signed Twins Joe Mauer, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing and Caleb Thielbar. Wilson re-signed Hamburger after watching him with the Saints.

“Having seen him have his downfall, and the things he did to manage and control it and be accountable and rebuild, and that he is still young and has a really good arm, there’s still upside in him,” Wilson said.

Ex-Twin Justin Morneau has no homers and three runs batted in in 27 games for the Pirates.

The next job for Bloomington Jefferson grad Lane Kiffin, fired as football coach at Southern California, could be as a network TV analyst, the Sherman Report projects.

OVERHEARD

Coach Jerry Kill on some plays the Gophers could have made but didn’t that might have kept his team in the game during last Saturday’s 23-7 homecoming loss to Iowa: “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas.”

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